What Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome | Top 6 Home Remedies

Updated on July 17, 2014

What Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome | Top 6 Home Remedies | Source

It is estimated that 1 in every 5 people do suffer from irritable bowel syndrome with profound signs and symptoms of bloating, gas, alternate diarrhea with constipation, stomachache, passing of mucus in the stool, and change in bowel habits amongst other.

One of the major causes I know is lactose intolerance which is present in milk. This is due to the absence of lactase enzyme in our body which is required to digest lactulose. There are so many other things which can trigger IBS. My brother in law gets IBS after eating capsicum. One of my friends gets IBS every time his boss reprimands him for any work issue. So, it could be psychological and emotional too.

What is irritable bowel syndrome?

We eat food, digest it and the absorb the nutritious components of food like vitamin, mineral, carbohydrate, fat, protein etc., and then excrete the remaining waste. All these work is done by a system known as gastrointestinal system.

When this gastrointestinal tract not malfunctions it is known as irritable bowel syndrome, because the gastrointestinal tract gets irritated due to various factors like psychological, genetically, environmental, physical, or food sensitivity.

Side Effects Of Not Treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome

a) It causes malnutrition in the long term due to malabsorption in the intestine.

b) Excessive flatulence making one very uneasy and wary of socializing with others.

c) Irregular bowel movements disturb one's commitment for work schedule and many important work suffers which leads to demotion.

d) Wary of eating outside as you do not know which thing will trigger your IBS.

e) If left untreated, can damage the whole gastrointestinal tract and lead to life threatening disease like ulcer, hemorrhoids, and even cancer.

What Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome | Top 6 Home Remedies

1) Fasting — India is famous for two things Yoga and Ayurveda (the traditional herbal medicine). In Ayurveda, apart from giving herbal medicine, it is an established principle to observe complete fast either a day in a week or every fortnight. We keep on putting different kind of food and drinks in our gastrointestinal system that is stomach, intestine, rectum, etc. and toxins keep on building in this tract and it started malfunctioning or abnormally function like gas, bloating, excessive flatulence, acidity, poor absorption of food, malnutrition, stomachache amongst others. When we fast, in the absence of food, the gastrointestinal tract cleanses the tract, so we get back to the original position. So, we must fast for a day every week or fortnight if our body allows. Fast means eating nothing for a day except water and you may have freshly cut aloe vera pulp or bottled Aloe juice.

2) Chitrakadi vati — It is another amazing herbal medicine which works wonder for IBS. In pharmacological science there is no permanent treatment for IBS, as the cause of the disease is yet to establish. But in Ayurveda (Indian herbal medicine) it is absolutely treatable through Chitrakadi vati. It frees the body of all the toxins and waste which are responsible for IBS. Buy a bottle of this herbal medicine and use as instructed in the bottle.

Apart from IBS, it helps in indigestion, lake of appetite, malabsorption, and abdominal gas.

3) Sanjeevani vati —Sanjeevani means immortality. Vati means herbal tablets. Sanjeevani vati is an amalgamation of different herbs, which apart from treating IBS boosts our immune system. This is very effective in the long-term benefits of gut function. So buy Sanjeevani vati and use it as written on the bottle.

4) Aegle marmelos or bael — The fruit and leaves of bael tree are offered to god while praying in India. This bael fruit is very good in treating IBS, as it contains digestive and antiinflammatory properties apart from being antihelmintic which kills the bad germs of the intestinal tract responsible for causing IBS. Only the inner soft pulp after separating the seeds is edible. Simply take a fully ripen bael, break its hard outer covering, take out the pulp, take all the seeds out and then mash the pulp and add water and prepare a drink. Alternatively, you can eat the pulp directly also. It is sweet in taste and leaves a bitter aftertaste.

5) Aloe Vera — Nothing is better than Aloe vera when it comes to IBS or any kind of stomach upset, gas, or constipation. It is a nature's gift to cure our digestive tract.

Start your day with Aloe vera. After doing your morning ablutions, pluck the outer leaf from the Aloe vera plant. Cut this length wise and take out the pulp inside and eat. If you do not live in a hot country or do not have access to Aloe vera plant, buy a good Aloe juice from a reputed seller and start your day with this.

How Aloe works. It contains anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, laxative, and cleansing properties. So, it cleanses our bowel from germs and bugs and within a month or two we feel fresh. Also, being a pre-biotic means it helps in developing healthy bacterial flora in our stomach which are helpful eliminating the bad ones. Also, it contains many minerals, vitamins, and amino acids which further nourish our body.

6) Curcumin capsule — Curcumin is the extracted from Turmeric, so it is herbal. It is very beneficial for treating IBS and rectifying the malfunction of our gut or intestine. Buy a bottle of curcumin and take the herbal tablets as mentioned on the bottle. The appropriate dose is approximately 5 to 10 grams of curcumin a day.

Apart from treating irritable bowel syndrome, it will benefit you for joint pains, cholesterol lowering, yeast infection, and asthma.

Irritable Bowel Treatment Through Herbs

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Comments 27 comments

Your hub appears to be good. Unfortunately, I have a real problem with medical advice being given out via Hub pages. I have bowel issues, as the result of nine surgeries in 13 years for different reasons and other health conditions.

I know the wrong combination of remedies can cause more problems. It is always best to check with your doctor or pharmacist, especially if you are trying something new to make sure that the remedy will not impact some other health condition or have an unintended reaction with some medications you may be taking.

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Hi Larry Wall that you for your insight and judgement regarding this article. You are absolutely right in stating that one should always consult his/her family physician before venturing into an unknown territory, i.e., adopting a new treatment methodology. I also personally request all the readers to please check with your family physician before adhering to any new principle.

Sue Bailey 3 years ago from South Yorkshire, UK

Voted up and pinned. Informative hub.

DDE 3 years ago from Dubrovnik, Croatia

Incredible write up and well informed on this topic, voted up, shared, a useful hub and most interesting to any reader

Your article is very interesting as usual! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Thank you Kidscrafts for giving your review.

vocalcoach 3 years ago from Nashville Tn.

An excellent, well written hub, my friend! I love hubs on nutrition, natural cures and such. I'm now a fan :)

Voted up, interesting and useful along with pinning to my board and sharing. ~ Audrey

tnvrstar 3 years ago from doha, qatar

Hello,

Excellent hub! I am suffering from irritable bowel syndrome and I finally noticed that fasting really helps. I am fasting in the holy month of Ramadan and my sysmptoms disappeared! I have done many expensive tests and took all kind of possible to cure, but nothing worked. I thought fasting will cause more problems but it actually helped. Thanks for writing.

Carola Finch 3 years ago from Ontario, Canada

Interesting hub. I have found that aloe really helped me during chemo when I had really bad IBS. There is a new aloe product by "Lily in the Desert" called Stomach Formula that has been helping me a lot.

Peggy W 3 years ago from Houston, Texas

This is very timely advice. One of my friend's sons is currently suffering with IBS symptoms. Am going to forward this hub to her and he can ask his gastroenterologist about this the next time he sees him. I would feel safe using the aloe vera personally and already take the Curcumen and am incorporating more Tumeric into our food because of the health benefits. Up, useful, interesting votes plus will tweet and pin.

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Hi Peggy! Nice to see your comment and review. I can assure you that with timely intervention and natural remedies one can absolutely take care of his/her IBS.

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Thank you Carola for letting me know about your experience. The more we exchange opinions the more we know.

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Thank you vocalcoach for your interest and review. Being in the medical field for so long, I even see dreams of natural care only.

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Hi tnvrstar! It is nice to see your comment regarding your own experience with IBS and fasting. Nothing is more worth than the experiences shared by people like you. Since ages, our saints have asked us to fast and the science behind this is to clear our body of toxins. Fasting really works wonder to our body.

Deb Welch 3 years ago

Useful - I make a Power Pudding found with the website www.peoplespharmacy.com . This is made with 3 ingredients - Coarse Wheat Bran (unprocessed & organic) all natural apple sauce and Prune juice. It works and not expensvie - eat several teaspoons a day. I heard about bael fruit but they don't sell it here.

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Hi Deb! Nice to see your review and your views and experience. If you need bael fruit, let me know, I will send your the dried form.

Deb Welch 3 years ago

Maybe sometime in September - I will get back to you. Thank you.

Abby Campbell 3 years ago from Charlotte, North Carolina

Great article, pinto2011! I like that you have offered natural solutions to treating IBS. I'm also a firm believer that nutrition will prevent and cure IBS. :-)

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Hi Abby! Thanks for your comment. You are quite right in stating that the only solution for IBS is through natural remedy, as till date there is no pharmacological permanent solution but only temporary ones.

Deb Welch 3 years ago

pinto2011 - I wanted to put the recipe for the Power Pudding here that I had mentioned in my Comment. 1 Cup of Unprocessed coarse bran, 1 Cup of All Natural Apple Sauce and 3/4 Cup more or less of Prune Juice. Let set in refrigerator about a half-day. A few to several teaspoonfuls should be enough to eat each day - morning or before bed.

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Hi Deb! Thanks for your recipe. I will definitely give it a try and suggest others.

rajan jolly 3 years ago from From Mumbai, presently in Jalandhar,INDIA.

Very informative information on a condition that is increasingly affecting a lot of people.

Voted up and useful.

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Thank your Mr. Jolly for your imp feedback. Yes indeed this is grasping all over the world because of bad eating habits and sedentary living.

stuff4kids 3 years ago

I have never been unfortunate enough to suffer from this painful and debilitating condition. It sounds really very hard to cope with. I sincerely hope that the remedies that you recommend here may be of use in the relief of the symptoms for those unfortunate enough to get Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

pinto2011 3 years ago from New Delhi, India Author

Thank you stuff4kids for your enthusiastic comment. These remedies definitely help to cure it from the root.